Apparatus for orienting cylindrical articles



3, 1968 H. s. HOFFMAN 3,396,830

APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed May 12, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 F W X ii 5% L S1 2: l 1 I k 1 w, INVENTOR.

1-111 HOWARD .5. HOFFMAN.

Aug. 13, 1968 H. S. HOFFMAN APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING CYLINDRICALARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12, 1967 INVENTOR. HOWARD S. HOFFMAN Aug- 1968 H. s. HOFFMAN A I 3,396,830

APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed ma 12. 19s? 3 Sheets-Sheet a I v YINVENTOR.

BY HOWARD .5. HOFFMAN.

United States Patent 3,396,830 APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Howard S. Hoffman, Livingston, N.J., assignor to G & H Mechanical Laboratory, Inc., Brickyard Road, Wayne Township, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 12, 1967, Ser. No. 638,097

18 Claims. (Cl. 19833) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for receiving cylindrical articles having dissimilar reduced diameter ends and for delivering the articles in a predetermined orientation from the apparatus. The articles are received from an infeeding passageway and into a determining position between a pair of rotatable members disposed in end-to-end relationship, one member a driver member rotatably actuated for a reciprocation cycle of one hundred eighty degrees forward and then returned to its original start position. A shoulder on the driver member is sized to engage the larger of the reduced diameter ends to turn the article when the article is in the unwanted orientation, whereas in the desired orientation, the shoulder slides by the smaller article end. The second member has a grooved end adapted to engage the main body of the article and to rotate with the article when it is rotated and to maintain the article in the orientated position when the article is not rotated by the driver member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The field of art to which this invention pertains is in the general class of article dispensing and more particularly in the following subclass designations: with orienting; by manipulation of successive individual articles; by gravitating articles contacting fixed abutments, and by positive rotation of articles.

Description of the prior art The positive orientation of slender, elongated articles having dissimilar end formations and requiring an automatic and positive orientation of the articles for a delivery to other operations has been a problem requiring an economical solution. The automatic processing of these articles into further operation or assemblies requires that the orientation be positive and complete. Many patents have been issued in the field of orienting means in conjunction with article dispensing and in particular the following patents are to be noted as generally indicative of the art. An article handling machine is shown in the U8. Patent to Harrington, No. 2,875,884 of Mar. 3, 1959, in which a pin having a pointed or reduced end is cammed to an orienting chute; a hollow member with a closed end is oriented in a hopper feeding mechanism in the US. Patent issued to Laverty, No. 3,166,177 of June 19, 1965; an orienting and feeding apparatus is also shown in the US. patent to Madeux, No. 3,199,722 of Aug. 10, 1965, and an article orienting device is shown in the US. patent to Haberstump, No. 3,286,881 of Nov. 22, 1966. These patents are illustrative of the many attempts to provide an orienting device for elongated articles having dissimilar ends. These devices may be either slow, erratic, or susceptible to jamming although they are designed to orient particular articles for feeding to later operations and in a precisely oriented position.

The positive high speed operation of the apparatus of the present invention is simple of construction and operation and may be operated at high speeds such as at a rate of one hundred articles per minute, and as reduced ice to practice, has proved to operate in a sustained manner for many hours of time and with foolproof operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A supply of slender rod-like articles having dissimilar ends is fed from a hopper feeding device and in endtoend relationship through a tube or other transporting means to a cylindrical article orienting device in which a base is provided with rotatable member means with an article feeding passageway at right angles thereto.

The rotatable member means includes a driven member having an end formed with a circular recess and with the portion outward of the recess formed to provide a receiving passageway and a reduced end engaging shoulder. This member is connected to a power unit adapted to provide reciprocal rotation of the member through one hundred eight degrees of movement. In the reciprocation of this driven member, the driven member is always brought to a first position to received the rod-like article after which the driven member is rotated one hundred eighty degrees. The engaging shoulder of the driven member is sized so as to engage the larger of the reduced ends of the article and when the article is received in the undesired position the shoulder is engaged by the rotating driven member and with the article being rotated end-forend. At this second limit of movement the oriented article is discharged through the receiving passageway of the driven member and to an article discharge passageway after which the driven member is returned to its initial start or first position whereupon a suceeding article is fed into the rotating driven member.

In proximity to and adapted to cooperate with the rotated driven member is a rotatable follower member having an end portion of determined diameter adapted to fit in the circular recess of the rotated driven member. In this determined diameter there is formed a groove adapted to receive and slidably retain the major diameter portion of the rod-like article. This follower member is formed with a pair of diametrically opposed recesses each adapted to receive a detent means disposed so as to hold the follower member in precise alignment at either of two positions. The groove in the end of this member is formed so that in either position the alignment of the groove coincides with the article passageway formed in the carrying block.

The follower member as it slidably returns to midportion of the shouldered article either rotates with the article as the article is turned by the driven member or remains in a fixed position maintaining the article alignment when the article is received in the desired oriented position.

It is an object of this invention to provide an orienting apparatus for rod-like articles having reduced ends of differing diameters, the orienting apparatus adapted for an inexpensive, high speed operation with positive orientation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a high speed orienting apparatus for rod-like articles having reduced ends of differing diameters, the apparatus having a passageway to feed the articles in an end-to-end relationship between a pair of rotatable members disposed in a face-to-face relationship in which a driven member is reciprocated in a cycle of one hundred eighty degrees forward and back. The driven member having a shoulder sized to engage the larger of the reduced ends and a follower member grooved so as to engage the main body of the article and to rotate when the article is rotated.

There has been outlined rather broadly the most important features of the article orienting apparatus of this invention in order that the present contribution to the art may be more fully appreciated. Those persons skilled in this art will appreciate that the concept on which the present disclosure is based may be utilized to provide the basis for a cylindrical, article-orienting mechanism similarly carrying out the purposes of this invention. There has been chosen a specific embodiment of the apparatus for the purposes of illustration and description of the article orienting means of this invention and this apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 represents a sectional view through the orienting apparatus of this invention and showing the relationship of the parts adapted to receive the cylindrical articles for orientation;

FIG. 2 represents an exploded isometric view partly in section of the components forming the assembly of FIG. 1 and showing the representative relationship of the various components to each other;

FIG. 3 represents an end view particularly showing the article receiving end formation of the rotating drive member;

FIG. 4 represents an isometric view particularly showing the article receiving end formation of the follower orienting member;

FIG. 5 represents an enlarged sectional view showing the relationship of the cylindrical article in the orienting apparatus between the driving and follower orienting members;

FIG. 6 represents a fragmentary top view looking downwardly into the feeding passageway of the orienting apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 represents a sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 5 and showing the relationship of a ball detent apparatus to the follower member;

FIG. 8 represents the sectional view of FIG. 5 but with the article for orienting removed from the assembly;

FIG. 9 represents a sectional view substantially the same as FIG. 5 but with the driving member rotated so that the oriented article is discharged and with a succeeding article engaged by its shoulder so as not to impede the cycling of the mechanism, and

FIG. 10 represents an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the end of the rotating drive member and taken on the line 1010 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED- EMBODIMENT Referring particularly to the drawings in which like numbers refer to like members throughout the various figures and particularly to the mechanism seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in which there is shown an assembly of the preferred embodiment which includes a base carrying a bracket 22 in which is mounted a feeding tube 24 sized for an end-to-end progression therethrough of cylindrical articles or pins for orienting. Within this base there is formed a guideway 25 extending therethrough and having a diameter adapted to receive the major diameter of the pin to be oriented. Rotatably mounted in the base 20 is a driven member 26 better seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 10 which rotatably mounted member is positioned so as to precisely intersect the guideway 25. A driving means is formed on the rear of the member 26 in the form of a tang or key 28 adapted to engage and be driven by a shaft 30 in Whose engaging end there is formed a keyway portion 32 adapted to engage the tang 28 of the cylinder 26.

The shaft 30 is mounted on and is turned by a rotating device 34 which in the present embodiment is a Rotac Midget Actuator having a two hundred seventy degree rotation and designated Model S-125-IV, single vane. This Rotac unit is a cycling means adapted to turn the shaft 30 for at least one hundred eighty degrees and then return to its start position. The Rotac unit is, of course, mounted upon the base 20 and is aligned with and is attached to the shaft 30 so that shaft 30 is rotated by this power source. As shown in FIG. 1 the shaft 30 is keyed and set-screwed by means of key 36 and set-screw 38 to the drive shaft 39 of the Rotac unit 34 so that as the shaft 39 is cycled the shaft 30 is also rotated positively.

It is to be noted that extending upwardly from the shaft 30 is a dog or lug 40 which, as it is rotated, is adapted to engage set screws 41 and 42 mounted in base 20 and which are adjusted to provide precise, positive stop means. The adjusting use of these screws 41 and 42 is more fully discussed hereinafter. In axial alignment with the driving member 26 is a follower member 44, this member is rotatably mounted in base 20 and has formed in its face a groove 46 adapted to slidably retain the major diameter of the article being oriented. In alignment with the groove is a pair of ball-detent receptacles or chamfers 4'7 and 48 disposed at one hundred eighty degrees to each other, the chamfer 48 being seen in FIGS. 5 and 7 through 9. A ball 50 representative of a ball-detent means is urged into position by means of a spring 52 which is retained in a recess 53 and is tensioned by means of a set screw 54 threadedly mounted in base 20. The endwise retention of follower member 44 is by means of a stop plate 56 held in position by means of screws 58 threadedly mounted in base 20.

Referring now to FIG. 5 in particular there is shown a cylindrical article or pin 60 having a major diameter main portion with reduced diameter ends. One end is formed with a diameter 62 slightly smaller than the major diameter main portion and the other end with a lesser diameter 64. The guideway 25 is sized so as to receive and guide the major diameter of the advancing pin 60. As seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 through 10 the end of the driven member 26 is formed with a passageway or recess 66 through which the pin is disposed to pass. Also formed into the end of the member 26 is a recess 68 into which the reduced end 69 (FIG. 4) of follower member 44 is adapted to fit. The outer end portion of the member 26 surrounding the recess 68 forms a ring having portion 70 which is of a predetermined height or axial distance from the face of recess 68 for about half of the circumference.

The remaining ring portion includes an inner segment which is of greater height and is identified as 72. The axial length or height of this segment 72 is substantially equal to the radial difference between the major body diameter of the article and the diameter of the smaller reduced end 64. This height is preferably a thousandth of an inch less than the nominal difference in diameters but in all cases must be a few thousandths of an inch (such as ten thousandths of an inch) more than the radial difference between the major diameter and the reduced diameter end 62. The width of the segment 72 is determined by the article and is formed so that when the article 60 is in the received position in the driven member 26 and the shoulder of one reduced end of the article 60 is engaged by the inner surface 73 of the recess the opposite or upper end of the article lies in substantially the same radial are as the outer surface of the segment 72. This radial dimension is preferably a few thousandths of an inch less than the furthest extent of an upper end of an article 60 in the received position.

OPERATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring particularly to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 10 wherein the operation of the apparatus for the orientation of the pin 60 is adapted to receive these pins from the feeding tube 24 after which the pin enters into the vertically disposed passageway 25 and proceeds to the peripheral surface of the end of the driven member 26. In the receiving limit of operation the passageway 66 is disposed in the up position as seen in FIG. 2 so that the piece 60 may enter and pass through this passageway and into the groove 46 of the retaining or follower member 44. The pin, by gravity, is advanced into this combined guideway until a shoulder portion, formed by the end of the major diameter of the pin and one of the reduced diametres 62 or 64, engages a shoulder stop as provided by the inner surface 73 of the ring portion 70. Upon engagement with the shoulder the forward or falling progress of the pin 60 is stopped.

The pin 60 is received into the driven member with either reduced end 62 or 64 in the down position. The rotation of the driven member determines the orientation of the pin. When the pin is to be discharged with the smaller end 64 in the down position the driven member is turned clockwise. When the pin is received into the driven member with end 62 in the down position, the driven member 26 (as viewed in the direction of FIG. 3) is rotated clockwise one hundred eighty degrees by the Rotac unit 34. The shoulder 72 at surface 72a engages the larger diameter 62 and rotates the part 60 end-fior-end with the follower 44 also turning one hundred eighty degress. The article 60 in groove 46 turns the follower so that ball 50 is urged out of a detent to slide or roll on the outer diameter of the follower until the follower approaches the second position whereupon the ball enters the detent to align the groove 46 and the discharge passageway 25.

When the article is received with the large end 62 trailing or in the up position no turning of the piece 60 is made. The surface 72 which is sized to provide a sliding contact with the smaller diameter 64 slides by the smaller diameter so that the piece 60 is not engaged and as held by the follower member 44 does not rotate. However, when the passageway 66 has been moved to the down position the larger or major diameter of the pin 60 is now aligned so as to pass through this passageway and out the discharge portion of the guideway 25. After the discharge of this pin, the Rotac unit is actuated and the driven member 26 and around the passageway 66 there grees so that the passageway 66 is once again in the position to receive a succeeding pin 60.

When the pin is to be delivered as oriented with the larger end in the down or leading position, the driven member 26 is rotated counterclockwise on the initial one hundred eighty degree rotation. If the pin is received with the larger end 62 in the trailing or up position, the shoulder provided by segment 72 engages the end 62 and rotates the member 60 end-for-end to the desired orientation. The pin is then discharged through passageway 66 and out the discharge portion of the guideway 25.

When the pin is received with the larger end 62 in the down position, the counterclockwise rotation of member 26 brings surface 72 sliding by the smaller diameter so that the piece 60 is not engaged and as held by the follower member 44 does not rotate. When the passageway 66 reaches the down position the larger or major diameter of the pin 60 is aligned therewith and passes through this passageway and out the discharge portion of the guideway 25. After the discharge the Rotac unit is actuated and the driven member is returned on hundred eighty degrees so that the passageway is brought in position to receive a succeeding pin 60.

It is to be noted that on the exterior surface of the driven member 26 and around the passageway 66 there is provided a flat or relieved portion 75, which flat provides a separation means so that each succeeding article 6%) fed through the tube 24 and into guideway 25 does not enter the recess 66 as the driven member 26 is rotated. This flat provides a relief and cam surface disposed to engage the shoulder of the reduced end of the next succeeding article and to lift this article by means of the outer surfaec of the cylinder 26 and from engagement with the segment of the driven end as the driven end is rotated.

Assuming that the piece 60, as in FIG. 5, has entered the guideway 25 and passed through the passageway 66 until the shoulder portion adjacent the small diameter 64 is engaged by the inner edge 73 of ring portion on the end of cylinder 26 then the driven member 26 is rotated clockwise one hundred eighty degrees by the Rotac unit 34. With the driven member in the position shown in FIG. 9, the article 60 is shown as having been passed downwardly out the passageway 66 and through the lower portion of guideway 25 to other operations. The succeeding article from the tube 24 has engaged the outer surface of ring portion 70 until the driven member 26 has been once again been rotated to the up or receiving position of FIG. 8 whereupon this succeeding article 60 comes in the way of passageway 66 and drops into the member 26.

When the driven member 26 is to be rotated counterclockwise the segment 72 passes by the incoming end of the guideway 25 and this segment must not engage a larger reduced end 62 of the next incoming pin. For this reason the continuing surface of 70 as an outer segment 70a adjacent the segment 72 is formed to provide a clearance for the rotating movement of member 26, first counterclockwise to bring the passageway 66 from a top to a bottom position and then clockwise to bring the passageway 66 again to the top position.

It is to be noted, that the inner shoulder 73 formed by the recess 68 is precisely made so as to act as a predetermined stop for the pin 60 and that the exterior diameter of member 26 is sized so as to accommodate the overall length of the piece 60. The succeeding .piece, no matter which end 62 or 64 is in engagement with the end of the article in the driven member 26, is supported so that its shoulder is located a short distance above the fiat 75. As the driven member is rotated, the flat 75 is brought into engagement with the shoulder of the article to act as a slight cam or lifting means to move the succeeding piece 60 from any engagement with the end of the pin being oriented. It is quite essential for the successful high speed operation of the apparatus that the pins 60 be a close sliding fit both in the guideway 25 and in the passageway 66 and groove 46. The sides of the stop 40 are precisely aligned by means of the adjusting screws 41 and 42 to bring the passageway 66 in a precise alignment with the guideway 25 both in the infeeding position and in the discharge position.

It is, of course, essential that the chamfers 47 and 48 providing for the ball-detent 50 to engage and precisely align the groove 46 with the incoming pin 60 be precisely made so that the pin may be readily fed through the passageway 66. When and if groove 46 is made more than a few thousandths of an inch wider than the major diameter of the pin 60, the pin is permitted to float around in the groove and may, at the time of discharge, be misaligned with the passageway 66, therefore causing a malfunction of the orienting apparatus. This is, of course, undesirable and so careful and precise workmanship and aligning is necessary for this apparatus to function smoothly in a high speed manner. As reduced to practice, the various components forming the guideway 25; the passageway 66; the groove 46, and the discharge portion of the guideway 25 are made with a tolerance maintained with less than a thousandth of an inch. Such apparatus is for a pin having a major diameter of one-eighth of an inch in diameter and a length of about nine-sixteenths of an inch with reduced end diameter lentghs of approximately forty thousandths of an inch and with one end diameter being one-sixteenth of an inch and the other reduced end diameter being three-thirty-seconds of an inch.

Although the drive power of member 26 is shown as a Rotac unit 34 it is, of course, contemplated that other drive means may be used. For example, a Geneva drive with two drive slots may be powered to rotate the member 26 in one direction and with two stop positions one hundred eighty degrees apart. The lug 40, of course, would not be required or used. A Pitman arm could also be used instead of a Geneva drive to cycle the driven member 26. The lug 40 with a pair of sliding stops actuate-d by solenoids or the like and with a slip clutch and motor could also be used to rotate the driven member in a precise intermittent manner. No novelty is ascribed to the means of providing intermittent rotation to member 26 but the above means are suggested as well known alternates to the Rotac unit shown in the FIGS. 1 and 2.

The terms right, left, in, out, up, down, clockwise and the like are applicable to the orienting apparatus shown and described in conjunction with the drawings. These terms are used merely for the purpose of description and do not necessarily apply to the position in which the various embodiments may be constructed or used.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for orienting cylindrical article-s having dissimilar reduced diameter ends and for delivering these articles in a predetermined orientation from the apparatus, said articles being fed to the apparatus in an end-to-end relationship and being delivered sequentially from the orienting portion of the apparatus in a determined oriented position, the orienting apparatus including: (a) a base; (b) an infeeding and outfeeding guideway formed in the base; (c) a driven member rotatably carried in the base and having one end intersecting and extending from the infeeding to the outfeeding guideway; (d) means for rotating the driven member from an article receiving position to an article discharging position; (e) a recess formed in the end of the driven member and providing a ring portion whose axial projection from the reces is substantially equal to the radial difference between the major diameter of the article and the diameter of its larger reduced end, the recess sized to receive the axial length of the major diameter of the article and to provide a shoulder to engage the article at the point where a reduced diameter end is formed; (f) a scallop passageway formed in the ring portion of the driven member and sized to slidably pass the major diameter of the article through the ring and into the recess and from the recess and the driven member; (g) a segment portion provided 011 the ring and extending axially outward from the recess an amount substantially equal to the radial difference between the major diameter of the article and the diameter of the smaller reduced end, and (h) means for receiving the article in the recess of the driven member and aligning this article with the infeeding and outfeeding guideway of the base as the scallop passage-way of the driven member is rotated from in the way of the infeeding guideway and after moving to the outfeeding guideway of the base.

2. In an orienting apparatu as in claim 1 in which the infeeding and outfeeding guideways are sized to slidably retain the major diameter portion of an article and to feed a stream of like sized articles through the base.

3. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 2 in which the infeeding and outfeeding guideways are bores having a circular cross-section which are sized and adapted to feed the articles in an end-to-end relationship through the base.

4. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which the means for rotating the drive-n member is a motive power adapted to rotate the driven member for one hundred eighty degrees and then move the driven member to the original start position.

5. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 4 in which the means for rotating is a cycling mechanism adapted to rotate the driven member from a start position and to a discharge position one hundred eighty degrees from the start and then, moving counterflow to the initial rotation, to rotate the driven member to the start position.

6. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which the projection of the ring portion from the recess of the driven member is at least a thousandth of an inch less than the radial difference between the major diameter of the article and the diameter of the larger reduced end of the article.

7. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which the passageway through the ring portion of the end of the driven member is an arcuate scallop having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the major diameter of the article being oriented.

8. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which the segment portion of the driven member extends outwardly from the recess an amount at least a few thousandths of an inch more than the radial difference between the major diameter of the article and the diameter of the larger reduced end of the article and an amount at least a thousandth of an inch less than the nominal radial difference between the major diameter of the article and the diameter of the smaller reduced end of the article.

9. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 8 in which the segment has one end terminating at the passageway through the ring and another end disposed to receive and engage the larger reduced diameter end of those articles which are fed to the driven member with their larger reduced diameter ends in the leading position.

10. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 9 in which the segment has a width sized so that when the article is received in the driven member and the shoulder of one reduced end of the article is engaged by the inner surface of the recess the opposite end of the article lies in substantially the same radial are as the outer surface of the segment.

11. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which there is a fiat formed in the outer cylindrical surface of the driven member and disposed to surround the passageway therein, the flat providing a relief and cam surface disposed to engage the shoulder of the reduced end of the next succeeding article and to lift this article from engagement with the segment of the driven end as the driven end is rotated.

12. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which the means for receiving and aligning the article in the recess of the driven member is a follower member rotatably carried in the base and in axial alignment with the driven member, the follower member having means to slidably engage and retain the major diameter of each article being oriented and to rotate with those articles which are turned end-for-end.

13. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 12 in which the follower member has a reduced end sized to enter and turn in the end recess of the driven member, and in which the means to slidably engage the major diameter of the article is a groove formed in the reduced end of the follower member.

14. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 13 in which the follower member is provided with a detent means for releasably aligning the follower member at one of two diametrically disposed positions, the detent means when effectively engaging the follower member being positioned to align the groove in the reduced end with the infeeding and outfeeding guideway in the base.

15. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 14 in which the detent means is a member having an outwardly extending curved surface and carried in the base and biased toward the follower member and there are diametrically disposed recesses formed in the follower member and adapted to engage and receive the curved surface member.

16. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 14 in which there is provided means for retaining and spacing the follower member so that the face of the recess in the driven member and the depth of the groove in the follower member slidably retain the major diameter of the orienting article.

17. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 1 in which a lug means is provided to rotate with the driven member, said lug means disposed to engage a stop positioned to align the scallop passageway of the driven member and the infeeding and outfeeding guideway of the base.

18. In an orienting apparatus as in claim 17 in which the stop for the lug means are a pair of set screws adjustably carried in the base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner. 

